The , also known as the Tōkaidō corridor, is the megalopolis in Japan extending from Ibaraki Prefecture in the northeast to Fukuoka Prefecture in the southwest, running for almost . Its estimated population as of 2011 was about 80 million.
The urbanization zone runs mainly along the Pacific coast (hence the name) of Japan from Kantō region to Osaka, and the Inland Sea (on both sides) to Fukuoka, and is concentrated along the Tōkaidō–Sanyō rail corridor. A view of Japan at night clearly shows a rather dense and continuous strip of light (demarcating urban zones) that delineates the region.Satellite images of stable night time lights in Japan The high population is particularly due to the large plains – the Kantō Plain, Kinai Plain, and Nōbi Plain – which facilitate building in otherwise mountainous Japan.
Although the Taiheiyō Belt contains the majority of Japan's population, references to the term in Japanese are mainly economic or regional in nature. The term was first used in 1960 in an Economic Commission Subcommittee Report formed to double the national income. At that time, it was identified as the core of the nation's industrial complex. Other than the Miyagi area, nearly all manufacturing industry in the nation lies in this zone, accounting for 70% of the nation's economic output in 2007 (about 4–5 trillion). The Shinkansen line south (and west) of Tokyo runs the course through the belt cities.
The region is specifically defined by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry as the following prefectures: Ibaraki, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Aichi, Gifu, Mie, Osaka, Hyōgo, Wakayama, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka and Oita.
The Sea of Japan has a much less well-developed string of cities, called (literally "inner side of Japan"), stretching 1000 km from Akita to Yamaguchi.
Major cities
Listed from north to south:
City Region Including Population(2010) GDP(million US$) Greater Mito Kantō Hitachinaka 678,969 30,258 Greater Tsukuba Kantō Tsuchiura 847,292 37,132 Greater Tokyo Kantō Saitama, Chiba, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Sagamihara 34,834,167 1,797,899 Greater Numazu Chūbu Mishima 509,249 22,888 Greater Shizuoka Chūbu Yaizu, Fujieda 1,001,597 45,840 Greater Hamamatsu Chūbu Iwata, Fukuroi 1,133,879 54,258 Greater Toyohashi Chūbu Toyokawa 676,333 31,001 Greater Nagoya Chūbu Ichinomiya, Kasugai, Kuwana, Kani 5,490,453 256,290 Greater Yokkaichi Kansai Suzuka 621,689 29,072 Greater Kyoto Kansai Uji, Otsu, Kusatsu 2,679,094 115,258 Greater Osaka Kansai Sakai, Higashiosaka, Nishinomiya, Nara 12,273,041 516,775 Greater Kobe Kansai Akashi, Kakogawa, Takasago 2,431,076 96,004 Greater Himeji Kansai Tatsuno 784,365 33,587 Greater Wakayama Kansai Iwade 584,852 24,592 Greater Tokushima Shikoku Anan 680,467 28,384 Greater Okayama Chūgoku Kurashiki, Sōja 1,532,146 63,101 Greater Takamatsu Shikoku Marugame 830,040 34,722 Greater Fukuyama Chūgoku Onomichi 764,838 31,518 Greater Hiroshima Chūgoku Hatsukaichi, Fuchu-cho 1,141,848 61,345 Greater Matsuyama Shikoku Iyo 642,841 24,509 Greater Kitakyushu Kyushu Yukuhashi, Nogata 1,370,169 55,693 Greater Fukuoka Kyushu Kasuga, Chikushino, Itoshima 2,495,552 101,644 Greater Ōita Kyushu Beppu 743,323 28,881
May also include: city region including population GDP(million US$) Greater Kumamoto Kyushu Uki, Kōshi 1,102,398 39,763
See also List of metropolitan areas in Japan by population
References